Naina's POV
Frankly speaking, I have been freaking out. I couldn’t sleep all night! You would probably be thinking why. Wrong question. Instead, the real question should be that is it even reasonable? And my answer is— no. The truth is, today is twenty-third September, and the start of the new school year. I am finally in grade eleven… I AM FINALLY IN GRADE ELEVEN?
Duh!
I am stressing out because I am terrible at making first impressions; especially at teachers. I can’t afford to have teachers think badly of me. My goal is to get into my dream university through scholarship, and for that, I need those letters of recommendation. It won’t be hard to get into my dream university if I get those letters. I have been doing everything to make my portfolio look perfect, including some extracurricular activities. For example, attending MUNs, participating in various competitions, excelling at subjects, having my own social media handle with over four thousand followers, where I upload dance videos, and trying to stay out of trouble, which is super common in high schools… American high schools to be specific.
But people would not believe me if I tell them that I am actually freaking out because I am known for my bold and confident personality. Little do they know that I am also a people-pleaser?
I check the wall-clock in my room. It’s six in the morning, meaning that I still have two hours until I reach school. I go to my bathroom and take a quick shower.
Is it possible to look cute and disciplined at the same time?
I go through my clothes and try to find a perfect outfit for the first day of my junior year.
‘Finally! This is perfect,’ I exclaim. I wear a cute blue colored traditional outfit, known as kurti in my mother-tongue. It’s one of my favorite outfits. The neck is not very deep, and it’s even full sleeves. I pair it with white leggings and white shoes. I barely apply any makeup, only my face moisturizer, mascara, and lip tint. I comb my hair in a neat ponytail and tie it with a blue bow.
I look presentable… right?
‘Ugh! Why am I so confused?’ I sit on my bed and suddenly hear a notification ring.
It’s Mia, my forever best friend. We have been best friends since the age of eight, and now we are almost seventeen. She is the complete opposite of me. She barely loses her calm. Mia is a real sassy queen. She has always been by my side, no matter what the situation is, my true support-system. I feel blessed to have her, genuinely. Everyone deserves a bestie like Mia. She feels home.
Before I can check her message, she calls me.
‘Hey Mia! I was just about to check your message,’ I say.
‘You haven’t seen it yet? I sent you a screenshot. Take a look at it, now!’ she says in an exciting tone. I wonder what it is. I open her chat and see a photo she sent me. I click on it and let out a squeal.
‘No way!’ I exclaim.
‘Yes way! You’ve just hit five thousand followers on your Instagram page!’
‘But last night I checked it was four point five thousand. Did I really gain five hundred followers in one night?’ I have been creating content on social media since past one year. I usually upload dance videos on it. Dance is my passion. People have different escapes from reality, such as reading, but dance does it for me. Alone in my room, with my headphones on, in my white tank top and grey shorts, and not don’t giving a shit about the world is the solution. When you just want to quit the world, or revive, like it’s a video game so that you can get another chance.
‘Yes babe! I am so proud of you,’ she says. I can practically hear her smile through the phone. Even though it might seem like it’s not that big of a deal, it really is a big achievement for both of us. It would have been impossible without her support.
‘Thank you so much Em-Em. I couldn’t have done this without your support…’
‘You alone are enough, babe.’
‘True,’ I chuckle. ‘By the way, Mia?’
‘Yes?’
‘What are you wearing today?’
‘You’ll see,’ I hear my doorbell ring.
‘You came to my house?’
‘Surprise! We can go to school together. Now hurry up girl! I am waiting. Hope you are ready.’
‘Just packing my bag,’ I say while putting my stationary and books in my bag.
‘Don’t forget the charger and a toast for me. I didn’t eat anything because I left early,’ she said.
‘You must have been really eager to see me,’ I tease.
‘Bullseye!’ she laughs. I pack my bag and go to the kitchen to make a toast for both of us. The toasts were ready when my mom and dad came out of their room.
‘Good morning sweetie!’ my mom said, leaving a peck on my cheek.
‘Good morning! Where’s Vedant?,’ I say.
‘Your brother already left for school,’ mom says.
‘Oh alright. To be honest, I am a little nervous,’ I say.
‘No way that my little girl is nervous! She is the most confident girl I have ever seen. Stop spreading those rumors about her. She will make sure kick those asses that make her feel that way,’ my dad says with a motivating smile.
‘You are a star. We believe in you. Best of luck!’ said mom. I have always had a healthy relationship with my parents. They have always made sure to raise me right. I give both of them a tight hug and leave the house.
I see a tall brunette leaning on her black defender. She is wearing black t-shirt and black baggy jeans, paired with red leather jacket. When I said that we are opposite, I really meant it. I am super girly, while she is full-on tomboy.
I jog towards her, ‘Mia! Looking hot as always huh?’
‘Not more than you, my d-dez- what was that word again?’
‘Desi?’ I raise my eye brows.
‘Yes! My desi girl’ she says in her American accent, making me giggle.
We do our handshake that we made ten years ago. You won’t believe it when I say that we sing a song while doing the handshake. This is not that “unbelievable” part. Actually, the song we sing is the title track of Dora the Explorer. Can you believe it? It’s not our fault, technically. We made this handshake when we were eight years old, and decided to continue the same handshake as it came along all those nostalgic memories.
“Du-du-du-du-du Dora…” we sing while doing the handshake, and then get in the car. She starts driving while eating the toast I made, ‘Delicious, right?’
‘Totally,’ she chuckles. We reach the school, get out of the car, and see chaos around us. A familiar chaos.
We enter the campus and see beautiful decorations all around us, welcoming the students for the new semester. I spot my brother Vedant leaning against his locker; a tall, handsome guy, but a total idiot. I don’t understand what girls see in him. He is a walking red flag! We walk towards him, ‘Vedu! Why did you leave the house without telling me?’
‘Stop calling me Vedu, Naina! I am your respectful senior,’ his face looks flushed, probably because he is embarrassed of the alias I gave him. I called him out in front of his friends, of course he is embarrassed.
‘No. You are my brother, idiot. Embarrassed much?’ I love to tease him. We have always had a love-hate relationship. Even though he is the optimistic, carefree-type, it’s really easy to get under his skin. When we were kids, Mia and I used to play pranks on him. We would spend the whole week planning and plotting. But he would always get back at us later on.
‘Yeah right.’ He scoffs. We hear the school bell and start heading towards our respective classes.
‘The dude who was standing beside your brother is so fine. What was his name again?’ Mia says while we walk in the corridor, towards our chemistry lab.
‘Exactly. Just fine. His name is Noah Wilson.’
‘He is so damn hot!’ She says, lost in her thoughts.
‘I swear I have seen better looking guys. And if someone is hanging out with my brother, something is wrong with them,’ I say.
‘The way he laughs is so sexy…’ She says, still lost in her thoughts. I notice that she wasn’t paying attention. I hit on Mia’s back to bring her back to present, ‘Hey! Are you even listening?’
‘You were saying something? Of course you were…’ She chuckles nervously.
‘Anyways, the class is about to begin. Let’s hurry up. I don’t want to make a bad impression!’ I say as we turn towards a corridor leading to the chemistry lab.
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